FAQ for

"How I Met Your Mother"

- FAQ Contents

Has the show been renewed for next season? Is Robin the mother? Are the kids actually Ted's? Who is "Bump Girl"? Is she the mother?

Is the mother's name "Tracy"? What are the "'Lucky Penny,' 'Something Blue,' and 'The Leap' Statements " and why are they important to HIMYM theorists? What are the main characters' occupation s? What's the theme song and who performs it?

What song is playing when...? Where's the real "MacLaren' s"? Who have the "contingen cy mothers" been? How many slaps has Marshall given Barney? How come we don't see the kids that much anymore, and when we do, they don't seem

to be as interactive with Future Ted? How many seasons is HIMYM supposed to run? In which episode was it revealed that Barney went to San Francisco to convince Lily to return to NYC? What does Heidi Klum say in German in "The Yips"?

What are the URLs of tie-in websites to the show? What typeface is used for the show's titles? Where did Lily go in the last few episodes of Season 4? What IS the difference between peanut butter and jam? What happened to Robin's dogs?

Which "Whedonve rse" alumni have appeared on the show? Which "significant others" of cast members have appeared on the show? In "How Lily Stole Christmas," what was the real word Future Ted substituted with "Grinch"?

Which episode did the quote "I just awesomed all over the place" come from? Is there really a HIMYM movie in developme nt for 2012? What's HIMYM's airing schedule? Why are there reruns? What's with the laugh track? How do I get

into the studio audience? What are the ages of the main characters ? When did Barney learn how to drive? I thought he was afraid of driving! Who's the blonde stalking Barney in "The Bracket"? How come the blue french horn appears again in season 5?

Didn't Ted and Robin return it? Is Barney or Robin dead in 2030? What ever happened to Ted's house? Is the mother blonde?

Has the show been renewed for next season?

EditHistoryDelete

In March 2011, CBS announced that HIMYM has been renewed for a seventh AND an eighth season. This means that the show will run the duration that its creators have intended it to run, and allow them to tell their story the way they've planned it.

Is Robin the mother?

EditHistoryDelete

From the pilot: Future Ted: . Because that, kids, is the true story of how I met your Aunt Robin. Son: Aunt Robin?

Daughter: I thought this was how you met Mom. Future Ted: Will you relax? I'm getting to it. Like I said, it's a long story. Clearly, Robin and the mother are not the same person. In fact, Robin not being the mother (a revelation that provided the big twist in the pilot episode) is one of the "pillars" in the premise of the show, a constraint that makes the series fresh and largely takes it out of the "will they/won't they" territory familiar to "Friends" fans. The creators of the show have reiterated in interviews that while Robin is going to be important and crucial in Ted's romantic journey, they intend to stick to their guns: Robin is not "the one," and there will be no ultimate loophole or twist to make it otherwise.

No, "Aunt Robin" doesn't necessarily mean he's married to Robin's sister. Future Ted also refers to "Uncle Barney," "Uncle Marshall," and "Aunt Lily," meaning that his kids follow the custom of referring to their father's close friends as "aunts" and "uncles." Also, see the "Lucky Penny," "Something Blue," and "The Leap" statements FAQ ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460649/faq#.2.1.6 ). Narration in those episodes establish that Ted has not met the mother prior to those points, which rules out a number of women we've seen in the show, not the least of which is Robin. "No Tomorrow" also explicitly places Robin as spending the whole evening with Lily and Marshall at their apartment, while The Mother is at a St. Patrick's Day party in a Manhattan nightclub that Ted was also attending. And per "Girls vs. Suits," it seems self-evident that The Mother is someone

other than Robin, being someone else's roommate and having additional quirks that she doesn't share with Robin.

Are the kids actually Ted's?

EditHistoryDelete

One of the "loopholes" some new fans frequently reach for is the idea that Ted isn't the father of the kids and that he's just some uncle or family friend telling them how he met their mother (thus leaving him free to be with Robin in the future). The fact is, it isn't true, as the kids have explicitly called Ted their father. Here's just a couple of instances: "Dad, can't you just skip ahead to the part where you meet Mom? I feel like you've been talking for, like, a year." - the daughter, "Where Were We?" (Season 2 Premiere).

"Dad!" - both kids, not buying Ted's story about how Robin's sister Katie's life turned out, "First Time In New York."

Who is "Bump Girl"? Is she the mother?

EditHistoryDelete

"Bump Girl" is the nickname fans have given to the character played by Nicole Muirbrook Wagner in the third season episode "No Tomorrow." Her entire scene amounts to Ted accidentally bumping into her while walking through a nightclub, Ted briefly apologizing and her graciously dismissing him. Because Ted earlier notes that the Mother was in the nightclub at night but that he didn't meet her, some casual fans have jumped on the theory that since the scene is pointless otherwise, Bump Girl must be the mother.

However, most of the more seasoned fans have come to the consensus that Bump Girl is simply a red herring; HIMYM has a recurring habit of subverting fiction tropes, often tied in to Future Ted's recurring theme of "that's not how it is in real life." In real life, people don't get over a broken heart overnight right after a seemingly healing epiphany; in real life, people don't triumphantly push a dead Fiero to 200,000 miles; in real life, friends don't always do the smart and thoughtful thing and tell their friends that purchasing an expensive apartment despite a horrendous interest rate and huge credit card debt is a stupid thing to do. The trope that "Bump Girl" is riffing on is that of The Conservation of Information, also known as "Chekhov's Gun"--you don't show something if it's not important. The writers are aware of this, and

know that sparking a discussion is always a plus when it comes to the show. Bump Girl was thrown in to inspire that discussion, but one needs to keep in mind that "that's not how it happens in real life," and while she's not technically ruled out as a candidate for "Mother," knowing the life lessons HIMYM puts forward, it's not a path that the writers are likely to pursue. In February 2011, How I Met Your Mother Production's Twitter account stated that the actress who will play the Mother has yet to be picked. This makes it unlikely that Bump Girl is the Mother, as the creators take continuity very seriously, hence they do not recast.

Is the mother's name "Tracy"?

EditHistoryDelete

The "Tracy Theory" is based on the concluding scene of the Season 1 episode "Belly Full of Turkey," where Ted meets a stripper who introduces herself as "Tracy," upon which Future Ted's narration chimes in, "and that, kids, is how I met your mother." The kids react with shock, and Future Ted quickly reveals he's kidding. Fan consensus, however, is that there's nothing that definitively establishes the mother's name as Tracy, and the "Tracy Theory" is typically disregarded: - We know what we see and hear on the screen isn't necessarily what Future Ted tells verbatim to his kids, unless we actually hear Future Ted say it (one example: Ted and Victoria's last day together in "Cupcake"). In other words, just because we heard the stripper say "I'm Tracy," doesn't mean that Future Ted told his kids, "She said her name

was Tracy." - The kids' shocked reaction in that scene would've happened regardless of whether Future Ted mentioned the mother's real name or not. Future Ted defused the situation before the kids might've uttered something like "but her name's not Tracy!" - Considering the series' previous "contingency mothers" (people who would've been the mother had the show been canceled at particular times) were Victoria and possibly Stella, the creators are certainly open to a mother who weren't named Tracy. So while there's no ruling out "Tracy," there's nothing definitive about it either.

What are the "'Lucky Penny,' 'Something

Blue,' and 'The Leap' Statements" and why are they important to HIMYM theorists?
EditHistoryDelete

Once in a while, someone will post their theory about how the mother could be [insert previously seen character here]. The "Lucky Penny," "Something Blue," and "The Leap" statements are lines of Future Ted's narration that establish that he has not yet met the mother prior to those episodes. - At the end of "Lucky Penny," Future Ted wraps up the story by saying that the firm he was interviewing for hired someone else, and that person had to move to Chicago three months later. He points out: "Kids, funny thing about destiny; I thought I was destined to get that job. But I

was wrong. My destiny was to stay in New York. Because if I hadn't, I never would've met your mother." Aside from strongly suggesting that he meets the mother in New York, it clearly means that he had not yet, at the time of "Lucky Penny" (and some window of time afterwards, prior to when he would have moved to Chicago) met the mother. - At the end of "Something Blue," Future Ted closes the story with this revelation of his and Robin's futures: "And as hard as it was at the time, in the end we both got what we wanted. She did eventually go on to live in Argentina, and Morocco, Greece, Russia, even Japan for a little while. And I? Well, I met your mom." - At the end of "The Leap," Future Ted offers up this summary of the fourth season: "That was the year I got left at the altar. It was the year I got

knocked out by a crazy bartender. The year I got fired. The year I got beat up by a goat--a girl goat, at that. And dammit, if it wasn't the best year of my life. Because if any one of those things hadn't happened, I never would've ended up in what turned out to be the best job I ever had. But more importantly...I wouldn't have met your mother. Because as you know, she was in that class. Of course, that story's only just beginning." So anyone Ted can be construed to have "met" before the events of "The Leap" can be definitively ruled out as the mother, including Victoria, the coat check girl, the Slutty Pumpkin, Wendy the Waitress, Trudy, Stella, and most other female characters Ted has personally significantly interacted with from Seasons 1 through 4. Notable characters who have not definitively been ruled out by this phenomenon include the Perfect

Match from "Milk" (she and Ted never met in person, though they presumably know each other's names and what the other person looks like), and the Bump Girl from "No Tomorrow" (since they merely bumped into each other). Additional (though less explicit) statements that nonetheless establish Ted as not having met the mother yet: "No Tomorrow" - Future Ted makes a point of the fact that he learned years later that the mother attended the same St. Patrick's Day 2008 party that he did, but did not meet her there. "The Three Days Rule" - after telling the story of how things with Holli went, Ted mentions that when he met the mother, he didn't hesitate to call her back as soon as he got her number, strongly implying that this event has not happened yet in

the timeline. "Girls vs. Suits" establishes additional facts about the mother that rule out previous encounters (and no doubts oem future ones as well). Particularly notable is the fact that he counts Cindy's description of her roommate as the first description he gets of the mother, effectively ruling out the Perfect Match from "Milk."

What are the main characters' occupations?

EditHistoryDelete

(updated August 2011) Ted is an architect. He once worked for a big firm, but in Season 4 he gets fired from his firm and decides to become self employed, setting up a firm called "Mosbius Designs." After his one major

project falls through, Ted decides to take up an offer made to him by his ex-fiance's current fianc Tony to teach architecture at Columbia University. In Season 6, in addition to his teaching position, he is working for Goliath National Bank, designing their new headquarters to be built on the site of an old building called The Arcadian. Lily is a kindergarten teacher. For a time (early in Season 2, when she returned from studying art in San Francisco) she worked as a waitress in a Hawaiian-themed restaurant and as an administrative assistant in Ted's architectural firm before returning to teaching. Robin was a reporter, then a news anchor for a small-time local cable station ("Metro News One," presumably based on real-life station NY1), but quit for a brief stint at Tokyo Ichi (think CNN meets a Japanese game show) in Japan before quitting

that job and returning to New York. She went through a period of unemployment but, with Barney's help, was hired by Channel 12 to host their 4 a.m. morning news show, "Come On Get Up New York." In Season 6 she leaves Channel 12 to become an associate researcher for World Wide News, a major news network. Marshall was a law student in Season 1 and 2, with some time spent interning in the legal department of Barney's company Altrucel; after passing the bar, he worked for the corporate law firm Nicolson, Hewitt and West, but quit partway into Season 3. In Season 4, he takes on a job in the legal department of Goliath National Bank, a company recently acquired by Barney's company, a position he maintains until late in Season 6, when he quits to seek work that is more in line with his passion for saving the environment. As of the end of Season 6, aside from brief stints

volunteering for the NRDC and representing Zoey Pierson in her attempt to save the Arcadian, he remains unemployed. Barney works for Altrucel, a large evil corporation (who prefer to be recognized as the company that puts the fuzz on tennis balls), but what *exactly* he does for the company remains a mystery, a running gag for the show (upon being asked what he does for a living, Barney immediately chuckles and dismisses the question with a "please.") He has since apparently been assigned to work directly for Goliath National Bank, Altrucel's newest acquisition. One of Barney's titles is the "head of the search committee" at GNB, but it is not necessarily his full-time position at the company.

What's the theme song and who performs it?

EditHistoryDelete

The title of the theme song is "Hey Beautiful," and it's by The Solids, an unsigned band led by the show's creators, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas. The song is available on iTunes, and can be heard in full on the band's MySpace page.

What song is playing when...?

EditHistoryDelete

See this thread on the HIMYM Message Boards for an up-to-date list compiled by the fans:http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0460649/board/nest/ 148104765

Where's the real "MacLaren's"?

EditHistoryDelete

Craig Thomas, co-creator of HIMYM, revealed in an interview with TV Guide

(http://www.tvguide.com/news/craig-thomasmother/071112-02) that MacLaren's is based on McGee's Pub on 55th and Broadway in Manhattan, not far from the Ed Sullivan Theater (where he and co-creator Carter Bays worked as writers for The Late Show With David Letterman).

Who have the "contingency mothers" been?

EditHistoryDelete

(Note: the following is theory and should not be regarded as fact) HIMYM has had to address the possibility of cancellation at least twice (and perhaps three times) so far in its run. The first instance is something that's common to most scripted TV shows (a little TV industry primer

follows): When commissioning a TV series, broadcast networks usually put in an initial order to the production company for 13 episodes or so. If the series is launched in the fall and brings in satisfactory ratings, the network will order additional episodes for the season (aka "being picked up for the rest of the season," or "picking up the back nine" for a full season of 22 episodes). Otherwise, if the show isn't an instantly-yanked disaster, the network will allow the rest of the initial 13 episodes to be produced, and will typically burn them off (i.e. air the episodes even though it's a doomed, "lame duck" series), though in some cases some episodes are not aired on the original network and instead air on a cable partner, shown online, or put on the DVD release of the series. So like any freshman series, HIMYM had an initial order of 13 episodes. And as with any series that have ongoing subplots, the writers of HIMYM were

particularly motivated to provide a reasonably satisfying conclusion if those 13 episodes were all they were going to get. And what was the 13th episode? "Drumroll, Please." And if you watch the episode, one can see where it would have provided a satisfying ending--Robin winds up unhappy, but one can see where she was instrumental in bringing Victoria and Ted together (a prerequisite of the whole story, at least if it were to end this early in the game), Lily and Marshall having a moment in the previous episode that they feel is a landmark in the journey to their wedding day, Barney being awesome as usual, and Ted and Victoria getting together in a very romantic fashion. All the episode was missing to become the finale of the show was a final voiceover from Future Ted saying "and that, kids, was how I met your mother"--something that could've been added had the situation required it.

The show was renewed for a second season before production on the first season was finished, so a "contingency" wasn't needed for the end of the first season--in fact, they made the season finale a cliffhanger. The end of the second season wasn't as sunny, and the finale even aired before official word of HIMYM's renewal came down. So what we got in "Something Blue"--bittersweet but slightly reassuring and satisfying to some extent, with Ted's narration providing a little closure to the mother mystery without actually revealing the mother, and a memorable final punctuation mark (not a period, exclamation point or question mark, but a nice ellipsis) courtesy of Barney. While HIMYM's renewal also came too late in the third season, it seems that the ratings boost from

Britney Spears' appearance may have given the producers enough confidence in a renewal that they gave the show a little cliffhanger as well, though it's also conceivable that they would have been content with the "question mark" ending with the further assumption that Stella was the mother.

How many slaps has Marshall given Barney?

EditHistoryDelete

Four so far: 1) In "Slap Bet," shortly upon Barney choosing the "five slaps any time" option. 2) In "Stuff," bringing Barney's one-man play to an abrupt end. 3) In "Slapsgiving," after the Thanksgiving embargo is lifted.

4) In "Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap", after Marshall's announcement that no slap will occur during Thanksgiving. One more slap is forthcoming.

How come we don't see the kids that much anymore, and when we do, they don't seem to be as interactive with Future Ted?
EditHistoryDelete

One of HIMYM's conceits is that the entire story is being told in one sitting; the kids are wearing the same clothes (except for the pilot, a discrepancy we're supposed to ignore because there are often changes between a series' pilot and the subsequent episodes), and have on occasion

alluded to how long Ted's been droning on. The problem is that actors Lyndsey Fonseca and David Henrie have been growing up; one can even see the difference between their Season 1 footage and Season 2 footage. So all the footage we've seen (and will probably ever see) of the kids was shot in Seasons 1 and 2, with what apparently is a small library of reaction shots to be used in future episodes. Since many of these episodes were/are yet to be written back when they shot the footage, the kids won't be specifically reacting to stories in the future (unless they recorded some responses that are generic enough to be used as a reaction, something we haven't seen yet). The creators of the show have acknowledged this limitation, and believe that now that the show is well-established, viewers only need an occasional reminder of Ted's framing narrative (the non-interactive shots that we've seen since Season 3).

There *is* one instance of a pre-recorded reaction to a future episode that we know of: A scene with the kids that directly relates to the identity of the mother was shot in Season 2 under very secure/secret conditions. This scene is being saved for the show's finale. (http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertain ment_tv/2008/07/barney-writes-a.html)

How many seasons is HIMYM supposed to run?

EditHistoryDelete

Like most network shows, HIMYM is renewed year-to-year. Creator Craig Thomas indicated in a 2009 interview that he hoped that the show's finale would air in 2012, meaning that they were hoping for a run of 7 seasons.

However, HIMYM's continued success has resulted in the cast not only getting pay raises, but also an extension of their contracts through an 8th season (2013), meaning that the door is open to go beyond the original 7-year plan. Of course, there's a time limit to when Ted will meet the mother, too: Since Future Ted's son and daughter are teenagers in 2030, Ted is going to have to meet the mother and have these kids within the appropriate timeframe. This does not necessarily mean that Ted will meet the mother in the series finale (or, to put it another way, that the show will end when he meets the mother). The creators have expressed openness to the possibility of proceeding beyond that point, whenever that occurs. In March 2011, it was announced that HIMYM was renewed for two additional seasons, meaning that

the show should run the eight seasons that the writers were planning on and the actors were contracted for. The creators haven't ruled out the possibility of going beyond eight seasons, Thomas expressed in an interview that Season 8 is "probably" the last.

In which episode was it revealed that Barney went to San Francisco to convince Lily to return to NYC?
EditHistoryDelete

"Bachelor Party," Episode 19 of Season 2. Lily reveals this because Marshall was mad at Barney for ruining his bachelor party and was upset enough to consider leaving him out of the wedding.

What does Heidi Klum say in German in "The Yips"?

EditHistoryDelete

She says: "Ach Du meine Gte, gar nichts klappt mehr, aber berhaupt gar nichts mehr" (Oh dear, nothing is working out anymore, absolutely nothing). (thanks to IMDB HIMYM fan dancer_in_the_snow for the answer).

What are the URLs of tiein websites to the show?

EditHistoryDelete

Aside from the CBS website, "Barney's Blog" (linked from within the CBS site), and official MySpace pages created for the show and its characters, here are sites that the show's staff have created, most of which are tied into episodes

of the series: www.marshallandlilywedding.com (not mentioned on the show, but contains photos and webisodetype footage from within the show's continuity) www.slapcountdown.com ("Slapsgiving"; now links to a fan forum) www.tedmosbyisajerk.com ("The Bracket"; note that tedmosbyisnotajerk.com is fan-created and unofficial) www.lilyandmarshallselltheirstuff.com ("Everything Must Go"; linked to a real charity auction of HIMYM props and wardrobe; no longer active) www.guyforceshiswifetodressinagarbagebagforthe nextthreeyears.com ("Everything Must Go"; no longer active)

www.notafathersday.com ("Not a Father's Day"; no longer active) www.barneysvideoresume.com ("The Possimpible") www.mysteriousdrx.com ("The Possimpible", not mentioned on the show) www.canadiansexacts.org ("Old King Clancy") www.weddingbridemovie.com/ ("As Fast As She Can") www.deddogphotography.com (referenced in the commentary for "I Heart N.J." on the Season 4 Home Video release) www.itwasthebestnightever.com ("The Sexless

Innkeeper") http://www.balloonexplorersclub.com/ ("The Playbook") http://www.extremitiesquarterly.com/ ("The Playbook") http://bigbusinessjournal.com/ ("The Playbook") http://linsonbreastlawsuit.com/ ("The Stinson Missile Crisis") http://stinsonbreastreduction.com/ ("The Stinson Missile Crisis")

What typeface is used for the show's titles?

EditHistoryDelete

In the first season, the font used was Century; from the second season onward (and on the DVD packaging of the first season), the typeface is Dax.

Where did Lily go in the last few episodes of Season 4?

EditHistoryDelete

Alyson Hannigan (as well as Cobie Smulders) was pregnant during Season 4, and early in March 2009 left the show to have her baby. Her absence is partially explained at the beginning of #4.20 ("Mosbius Designs") when she is so offended by a joke Barney tells that she refuses to hang out with the guys for four weeks (presumably she still spends time with her husband and with Robin offscreen). Hannigan gave birth to daughter Satyana on March 24, the week that #4.23 ("As Fast As She

Can") was produced. The season finale (#4.24, "The Leap") was filmed in January to accommodate the actresses' pregnancies and to ensure Lily would play a role in the season finale.

What IS the difference between peanut butter and jam?

EditHistoryDelete

In "Mosbius Designs" (#4.20) Barney tells Lily a joke that offends her so much that she refuses to hang out with the gang for four weeks (this was done to accommodate actress Alyson Hannigan's maternity leave; the season finale #4.24 was shot in advance, making a "return appearance" possible). The audience hears the setup ("What's the difference between peanut butter and jam?"), but not the punchline--Future Ted's narration obscures Barney's words.

There are multiple minor variations to the punchline as found by searching for the joke on Google, but in essence, the punchline is: "I can't peanut butter my [slang for male organ] up your [slang for buttocks]." In the footage we see Barney mouth the words "peanut butter," but his other words don't quite jibe with the known punchline, which may mean he told a variation of the joke that was even more offensive than the commonly accepted punchline.

What happened to Robin's dogs?

EditHistoryDelete

During Robin's relationship with Ted in Season 2 (in the episode "Stuff"), Robin sent her dogs away to live on her aunt's farm in Upstate New York (really, it's not a euphemism). Even though her initial reason to send them away (Ted was uncomfortable with them reminding him of Robin's

ex-boyfriends) is no longer a factor, presumably she has found it more convenient to live without them...or they're really happy out there and don't want to move back.

Which "Whedonverse" alumni have appeared on the show?

EditHistoryDelete

Co-creator Craig Thomas' wife was a big Buffy fan, and when Thomas asked for her "blessing" to have a character based on her in the new sitcom he was creating, she agreed on the condition that they get Alyson Hannigan to play the part. This almost became a show-stopper when Hannigan read the script and said she didn't want to do another single-camera series: her experience with Buffy's grueling shooting schedule (some days running as much as 14 hours) was not something she wanted to repeat. She was assured that--

despite the fast-and-loose nature of the narrative-HIMYM was indeed a three-camera show. And the rest is history... Aside from Hannigan (and, retroactively, Neil Patrick Harris), the list of HIMYM actors known for their appearances in Joss Whedon's productions include: Alexis Denisof (Alyson Hannigan's husband): Wesley in "Buffy" and "Angel" and Senator Perrin in "Dollhouse"; Sandy Rivers, Robin's co-anchor in Season 1. He also plays Robin's boss at her new WNN job in seasons 6 & 7. Amy Acker: Fred in "Angel" and Whisky/Dr. Saunders in "Dollhouse"; Barney's rain-dancing ex Penelope in "Come On," Season 1. Morena Baccarin: Inara in "Firefly"; "Crazy Eyes"

Chloe in "Swarley," Season 2. Tom Lenk: Andrew in "Buffy" and "Angel"; Scott the barista in "Swarley," Season 2. Harry Groener: Mayor Wilkins in "Buffy"; Ted's mom's boyfriend Clint in "How Lily Stole Christmas," Season 2. Danny Strong: Jonathon Levinson in Buffy; Trey in 'Last Words' Season 6 Lesser-known actor crossovers include: JP Manoux: Bellman in "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been," ("Angel," #202); Not Moby/Eric in "The Limo" (Season 1). Caroline Lagerfelt: Spike's mother Anne in "Lies My Parents Told Me" (BTVS, #717); Bridal shop

lady in "Cupcake" (Season 1) Pat Crawford Brown: a creepy old lady in "Doublemeat Palace" (BTVS, #612); Thelma, the old lady on the plane with Lily in "Three Days of Snow" (Season 4) Rachel Bilson: Colleen, a Potential Slayer in "Dirty Girls" (BTVS, #718); Cindy, the Mother's roommate, in "Girls vs. Suits (Season 5) Ian Abercrombie: techno-hunter in 'Homecoming (BTVS, 3.5); Ben Franklin in HIMYM 'The Goat' Season 3. thanks to HIMYM fan Riina_K for information on the lesser-known crossovers

Which "significant others" of cast members

have appeared on the show?

EditHistoryDelete

Alexis Denisof, Alyson Hannigan's husband, is a reoccurring character as Sandy Rivers, Robin's coanchor at Metro News One. David Burtka, Neil Patrick Harris' partner, plays Scooter, Lily's high school boyfriend, in multiple episodes. Taran Killam, who plays Barney's colleague Blauman in multiple episodes, is Cobie Smulders' significant other; the two had a child together and became engaged in the Spring of 2009. Lindsay Price appeared in the 2007 episode "Spoiler Alert" as Ted's chatty girlfriend Cathy; the two started dating sometime afterwards, and were

together for about a year before a reportedly amicable breakup in November 2009.

In "How Lily Stole Christmas," what was the real word Future Ted substituted with "Grinch"?
EditHistoryDelete

Fandom is divided into two camps on this issue: Those who believe it's the four-letter "c word," and those who believe it's the five-letter "b word." The "c word" camp's argument is that the "b word" has been used repeatedly on the show (even by Lily herself) with no major negative reaction, so the word must be significantly more offensive, particularly to women, to get the reaction it did from the different people exposed to it in this

episode. A now defunct section of the official CBS HIMYM website had a glossary ("Motherspeak") that defined "grinch" as "a four-letter word you can never call a woman." Those in favor of the "b word" note the rhyme shared by the two words, and contend that context plays enough of a part in the offensiveness of the word that Future Ted would censor it in this instance and not in others. The creators once mentioned in an interview that the incident in this episode was based on real-life events, and the word in the real-life instance was the "b word."

Which episode did the quote "I just awesomed

all over the place" come from?

EditHistoryDelete

HIMYM T-shirts with the phrase "I just awesomed all over the place" were sold beginning the summer of 2010. While this is an awesome slogan, Barney has not actually said this exact phrase on the show. The actual quote is as follows, from Season 2's "Something Blue," after the happy newlyweds drive off, and Barney still thinks Robin is pregnant: BARNEY (to Ted) "You're gonna miss out on a lot of awesome stuff. You'll be at home with the kid, while I am out awesome-ing. All over the place." (to Robin) "And you're going to get fat."

Is there really a HIMYM movie in development for 2012?

EditHistoryDelete

No. IMDB uses user-contributed information, and some of it winds up being inaccurate or counterfeit (not too long ago, IMDB's listing for HIMYM had a frequently recurring character named "Kevin" who simply didn't exist). Chances are an overenthusiastic fan mixed up or intentionally distorted information regarding NPH's directorial debut "Aaron and Sarah" to create that entry. The IMDBPro entry for the supposed movie makes no mention of Carter Bays, Craig Thomas, or 20th Century Fox, three entities whose involvement in a HIMYM movie would be essential; instead, it credits screenwriters and a production company who have had nothing to do with the TV series. EDIT: The entry for the supposed HIMYM movie has been removed, but we're keeping this here for posterity.

What's HIMYM's airing schedule? Why are there reruns?

EditHistoryDelete

HIMYM is a traditionally scheduled show, which means its season runs from mid-September to mid-May, with reruns interspersed between new episodes. It's not like some cable series or serial dramas that air their seasons in one or two straight chunks with lengthy hiatuses in between.

When CBS commissions a season of HIMYM, the typical size of the order has been 22 episodes. Season 3 had 20 episodes because of the writers' strike of that season, and Season 4, 5, and 6 has had CBS order two extra episodes each (for a total of 24 eps each season), as a sign of confidence in the show's performance. Another aspect of American television programming is the "sweeps" period. In November, February, and May, the ratings are scrutinized in order to determine how much the network charges for ads in those particular time slots. So that's where the networks tend to cluster new episodes and episodes that may have some extra appeal (big plot twists, stunt casting, etcetera) to draw in more viewers and make higher ratings. So the "typical" HIMYM season is structured

this way: - Season premiere in mid-September, with a string of unbroken episodes until-- A rerun in late October (this didn't happen in S3 and S6) - All new episodes for the first four weeks of November for sweeps - A rerun right after sweeps, then two or three new episodes between December and January - All new episodes in February for sweeps - Two or three new episodes between March and early April - A final stretch of new episodes from late April

to the finale in May Major aberrations in the typical schedule happened in these instances: Season 1: Two new episodes shifted away from February in order to avoid getting trounced in the ratings by the Winter Olympics. Season 3: The Writers' Guild strike which ran from November to February led to no new episodes from December through mid-March. A flurry of work after the strike led to an unbroken string of new episodes from that point to the finale, bringing the episode total to 20. Season 4: The US switchover to digital broadcast signals was scheduled for mid-February, leading to February sweeps being rescheduled to March. The February switchover was then postponed to

the summer, but the postponement happened too late to switch sweeps back to February. Season 5: As in S1, two episodes were shifted away from February because of the Winter Olympics. Season 6: There was no late October rerun. December-January had four new episodes instead of three. HIMYM's production schedule runs from midAugust to late March, with breaks for holidays. Reads and rehearsals for episodes typically take place on the Mondays and Tuesdays of the week, and filming takes place Wednesday through Friday.

What's with the laugh track? How do I get into the studio audience?
EditHistoryDelete

The differences may not be obvious at first glance, but HIMYM isn't like its fellow CBS sitcoms; it's actually a hybrid of the traditional "three camera" show shot in front of a studio audience (like "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory"), and the increasingly more common "single camera" shows like "The Office" and "30 Rock" that are shot and edited not unlike TV dramas and theatrical films. HIMYM is shot to look and sound like a three-camera production (a stylistic choice by the show's creators and producers), but is actually written and produced in a similar fashion to single-camera shows. There is no studio audience; the laughs are recorded from an audience brought in to screen the finished product

prior to airing (one exception was "Hooked," an episode recorded in front of a private audience that included television critics). The following article sheds some light on HIMYM's hybrid process, and why it makes the show distinctly different:http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/e ntertainment_tv/2007/01/how_i_met_your_.html

What are the ages of the main characters?

EditHistoryDelete

Ted, Marshall, and Lily were all born in 1978: - All three are portrayed as incoming college freshmen in flashbacks set in 1996 - Lily's senior prom in "Best Prom Ever" took place in 1996.

- "How I Met Everyone Else" establishes that they graduated from Wesleyan in 2000. - Ted turns 30 in "The Goat" (set in 2008) and 31 in "The Leap" (set in 2009). "The Goat" establishes his birthday as April 25, though "The Leap" ostensibly takes place in May. - Lily turns 32 in "Say Cheese" (set in 2010). This makes her older than Ted by a few months, though dialogue in "The Goat" seemed to imply that she and Marshall had not turned 30 yet. In "The Front Porch" Ted yells at Lily for breaking up him and Robin, and says, "you met the love of your life in a dorm hallway when you were 18." Lily went off to college in 1996, and met Marshall, placing her birth year as 1978. Marshall was born in 1978. In, "The Yips,"

Marshall's trainer exclaims he will feel healthier and be more fit in his forties, saying he is in his thirties. However, Marshall retorts by saying he is 29. This episode aired in November, 2007. This places Marshall's birth year around 1978 or 1977. Barney was born in 1976. "Game Night," which flashes back to 1998, shows Barney intending to leave for the Peace Corps, which means he was probably out of college by then; "Zoo or False" establishes that he was born seven years after the first moon landing in 1969. As well, in the episode "Columns" (2.13) Barney states his age outright as 31 when he is asking Lily to paint him nude. Robin was born in 1980. "Robin 101," set in 2009, establishes her birthdate as July 23 and gives her age at the time as 29.

When did Barney learn how to drive? I thought he was afraid of driving!
EditHistoryDelete

The episode that raises this question is Season 2's "Arrivederci Fiero," where there's a scene where Ted learns that Barney can't drive and proceeds to teach him, with disastrous results. Some viewers have taken this to mean that Barney *never* learned to drive, and are confused when they see other episodes that have shown Barney driving (Season 4's "As Fast as She Can" most prominently among them), as well as references set before "Arrivederci Fiero" that seems to contradict the scene (In "Come On," Penelope mentions making out in the back of Barney's car; Barney takes Ted's mom to the airport around the time of Season 2's "Brunch," as referred to in "Little Minnesota" and seen in flashback in "Home

Wreckers"). The thing to keep in mind is that the driving lesson scene in "Arrivederci Fiero" is a *flashback* to sometime "last year"; if Ted didn't misspeak, that means sometime in 2006. Barney has a car by the Season 1 finale, "Come On," assuming that it wasn't part of some ruse; either way, he's definitely driving by "Brunch," and apparently drives a truck soon after "Arrivederci Fiero" in the episode "Moving Day" (granted, he only drove it a short distance to the back of MacLaren's, but Ted didn't seem to take Barney's supposed inability to drive into consideration). That leaves a sizable window of time in the first half of 2006 (i.e. the last half of HIMYM S1) in which Barney was able to learn to drive. Given that Barney is both impulsive and obsessively driven (no pun intended), it's possible that he got over his fear of driving and mastered the skill very quickly.

Who's the blonde stalking Barney in "The Bracket"?

EditHistoryDelete

It's a strange phenomenon, but a lot of people seem to forget that it was revealed a few episodes later, in "Everything Must Go," that Barney's stalker is Abby, played by Britney Spears (and previously seen in "Ten Sessions," the episode just prior to "The Bracket"). Other than "Everything Must Go" being possibly forgettable (even though it's when Ted first pulled off wearing those awesome red cowboy boots), a reason for this is that "The Bracket" was actually produced *before* "Ten Sessions," and without a culprit in mind (the decision to make the stalker Abby was made much later, when the producers were entertaining the opportunity to bring the

character back); the actress heard and seen in "The Bracket" as the stalker is not Britney Spears, and unfortunately, while it makes sense in the narrative to convey the mystery, that mystery is unfortunately retained in reruns (and memories of watching the episode) as people don't wind up connecting the voice to Britney's character.

How come the blue french horn appears again in season 5? Didn't Ted and Robin return it?
EditHistoryDelete

In Twin Beds Drunk Ted steals the blue french horn again when he and Barney are fighting over Robin.

Is Barney or Robin dead in 2030?

EditHistoryDelete

Some viewers think that because we have not seen either of them in the future they must be dead. The reason we don't know, is that there can still be some mystery for these characters' fates. All evidence points to them being alive: In The Slutty Pumpkin Future Ted narrates: "You know how Aunt Robin's a big fan of Halloween, always dressing up in crazy costumes? Well, she wasn't always that way", in Robots Vs. Wrestlers: "But every year, we [the gang] still get together for Robots vs. Wrestlers.", in Subway Wars: "To this day, your Uncle Barney won't admit it ..." This is strong evidence the entire gang is still alive in 2030. In Season 6's "The Exploding Meatball Sub" both are seen with the rest of the gang.

What ever happened to Ted's house?

EditHistoryDelete

Ted bought a house in Home Wreckers. It needs a lot work. We see in Legendaddy that he's busy making renovations. It's reasonable to assume from time to time he goes there to fix it up. They just don't show every day of the gang's lives. Actually at the end of Home Wreckers he tells the kids that as they know that house is the house they are sitting in so that shows he fixed it up and it became the house he shared with their mother.

Is the mother blonde?

EditHistoryDelete

In Shelter Island there's a scene about what if Ted and Stella had children and the children had blond hair. In Challenge Accepted when Ted gets the old lady to deliver the orchid to Zoey, he instructs her

to "Give it to the blonde sitting alone." When the old lady gives the orchid to the wrong blond, future Ted jokes to his children "...and that kids, is how I met your mother...PSYCH! She was just some random chick!" These two instances make some people think the mother must be blonde, but the blondness of the children could merely be a visual way of illustrating that these are different children. We also don't know in how much detail Future Ted is actually describing things to the children. Finally, seeing as many women dye their hair, the (fake) color we see can be anything.

Page last updated by flyboy152, 1 day ago